More Birthday Knitting....

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(...but at least it's not mine...).

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Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival, 2007

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I left Richmond Friday afternoon and drove west, to the sweet land of Liberty...

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...(Lynchburg, VA), where my sister and her family live.

Saturday morning we drove another 14 miles northwest, over hill and dale:



Until we reached Big Island, VA, home of the Sedalia Center:


to attend the Spring Fiber Festival.


While there, we saw lots of cute animals: (click any picture to make bigger)


Here's that little guy crying for his mother:

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We also spied a few knit-bloggers in their natural habitat:

Tanya and Robin F.
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Emmy, Pam & Robin H.
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Krista & Margaret
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My sister came with me, (although she's essentially a non-knitter), along with her 13-year-old daughter (a beginner knitter), and the kid was eager to see the animals and take lots and lots of pictures of them. I love animals as much as the next person, but I had to remind them both that there were also people there selling things I was particularly interested in -- you know -- the YARN! Hello?! ;-)

(Does this hat look familiar?)
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The weather was similar to last year's event, although quite a bit colder, I think. And me, caught without my mittens. So I ended up buying some felted woven mittens from Kim Harrison's booth.

Here is my modest haul from the day:

mittens and yarn
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woven, felted mittens
from weaver Kim Harrison (no web presence)
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440 yards handpainted sock yarn (75%/25% wool/nylon)
from The Flock Bransonas (no web presence)
colorway: "Olivia"
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120 yards wool/mohair
from Kid Hollow Farm
colorway: "Kiwi" (above)
and
colorway: "Chico" (below):

(being wrestled by Ali the cat)
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The niece picked out that last yarn for a hat to be knit by yours truly. (The gift knitting never ends!) (But I don't really mind.)

I took more pictures than are shown here, (no! really?), so if you're interested, you can see more of them on Flickr, here.

I was very thankful that this fiber festival wasn't the mudbowl of last fall's, and had a lovely time, as expected. Fiber festivals are my favorite thing to do, and so I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one in just a few weeks! I hope to see you there!

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Cats and Hats

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HATS

Yeah, I know. Y'all are sick and tired of seeing my knitted hats. Well, if it makes you feel any better, my long list of hat knitting is getting a little smaller, as I've finished several over the past few weeks. I still have a couple of baby hats to knit, but I think that I will simplify one of them which should help me crank it out all the faster, and the other isn't due for awhile, so I can actually start a non-hat project in the interim.

Sing it with me: Hallelujah!

I hope to share pictures of the new, non-hat project, later this weekend, that is, if I make any kind of presentable, picture-worthy progress. It's a secret for now, but boy, is it going to be pretty -- just you wait and see!

In the meantime, and without further ado, I give you my latest finished object:

Specs:

• Yarn: Brown Sheep Burley Spun in Pinetree (#BS68) - 100% wool
  
• Gauge: 2.5 stitches per inch
• Needles: U.S. size 13 Denise interchangeable circular & Brittany birch 7½" DPNs
• Pattern: Cast on 56 stitches, join in round, K2,P2 for 5", decrease in stockinette & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator

I like this hat, which I knit for my younger brother's upcoming St. Patrick's Day birthday, but I'm wondering now if it's appropriate for him. He's a very conservative dresser, and I'm thinking that even though I used 2x2 ribbing in an effort to make it a masculine hat, it still has a feminite feel to it. He will never wear a girly hat, that's for darn sure. I've got an email with picture out to my other siblings to get their opinions. I still have time to knit another one for him, if necessary.


HAT SPOTTINGS

Recently, I've stumbled upon a few of my other hand-knit hats in their natural habitats. Take a look:

Nephew wearing his birthday Redskins hat
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Younger nephew still wears his Orioles hat, several weeks later,
at older nephew's birthday party. I asked him if it seemed too small,
but he says he likes it just like it is. I take this as a compliment.
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Sister modeling her snowman hat
(it's a little big on her, but she says she loves it)
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CATS


With warmer weather and sunshine around these parts, the cats are taking full advantage of that warm patch where the sun streams in through the storm door. Here's Casey sunnin' her ample belly:

honk-shoo, honk-shoo, honk-shoo
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And here's a little video of Ali, snoozin' and snorin' next to me as I sit at my desk. You may need to turn up your sound to hear her snoring above the hum of the computer. Make sure you watch it until the end, when she startles herself awake:

Honk-shoo, honk-shoo, honk-shoo
(Feedblitz subscribers click here to see embedded video)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Tuesday Night Knitters brave the elements

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The weather was miserable this past Tuesday night -- very cold and rainy and just not anything you'd want to be out in, but we TNK'ers are a hardy bunch, and made our way to the warmth of Barnes & Noble and the companionship of our friends and fellow knitters.

Here's the group, in all their smiling glory:

Howdy, gang!
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That poor soul in the green sweater whose head I decaptitated in the above picture is the lovely Christina. Sorry, hon! I thought I got everyone in the shot! Ack! Not to worry -- I captured her lovely face in another shot, further down in this post.

Here's one side of our long table:

(L-R): Jo, Rita, Sheddy, Amy, Mary, Hannah, and to her left, her little sister Lily
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And here's the other side of the table:

(L-R, facing camera): Linda, Norma, Renny, Christina (she kept her head, this time!)
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Christina is working on this beautiful scarf made out of a potpouri-type yarn:

Love this!
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Here are the yarn details, if you're interested:

Visit this gal's website to see her other yarns
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Until Tuesday night, high schooler Hannah held the honorable rank of youngest member of our group. Hannah's mom just gave birth to child #9 (!), and this week Hannah brought her sister Lily to knit with us. Here's Hannah helping Lily work the heel of a pretty purple sock:

Hannah and her sister.... ;-)
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Amy is working on several projects, including this beautiful cabled sweater:

Looks warm!
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To Amy's left is another Mary in our group who is working on a purse made with Rowan denim, which will have a very cool jeans pocket sewn on the outside, after it's all knit up. I hope to get a picture of that sometime soon.

Sheddy "cheated" on us last week and knit with a group up in Pennsylvania that also meets at a Barnes & Noble on Tuesday nights. While in her home state, she picked up some SWTC Karaoke, a lovely wool/soysilk blend that's incredibly soft, and according to the Pennsylvania knitters she spoke with, is their preferred (softer) alternative to Noro. Sheddy is knitting a cartridge belt rib scarf using a very cheerful colorway:

Fun!
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Norma is diligently working on her Knitting Pure & Simple top-down hooded cardigan for her new grandbaby:

Yarn: Sugar & Cream
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And Renny is knitting the lovely feather-and-fan shawl from Folk Shawls for her daughter's wedding this spring:

Pretty!
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Rita is tackling the Colinette AbFab throw with yarn purchased down at the beach at Knitting Addiction:

Absolutely Fabulous!
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I continue to work on my snowman hats, and should have finished-object photos to share here tomorrow, so, stay tuned!

In the meantime, the February issue of Yarnival is now out, and this month can be found over at the The Purloined Letter. And guess what? I made it in again! They're linking to my post with the video of Issy demonstrating how to do a Russian Join. Way cool!

I will end this now, so I can go finish my hats. Stay warm, everyone!

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Don't like the weather here?

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...wait five minutes!

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Thursday afternoon, I looked up from my desk and saw this:

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Even though the thermometer still said this:

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I got so excited, I made a dorky little video:

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And took a few pictures of our vast accumulation:

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Some people were even able to build a wee snowman.


But thirty minutes later, the skies looked like this:

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and all our snow had melted.

I'm still holding out hope that we get a real snowstorm before our fickle winter is over....

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Issy Does Moscow...

...or, How to do a Russian Join.

This past weekend at our "Knittin' on the Lake" retreat, Isobel was kind enough to demonstrate for us how to join new yarn to old yarn in a way that eliminates the need for weaving in ends later.

Filmed by me and embedded here for your edification:


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The basic technique: (still pictures of the technique can be found here and here; another video, more professional than mine, can be found here): when joining one strand of old yarn to one of new yarn, wrap the ends of the old and new yarn around each other once, so that there's about a six-inch tail on each side, and then, using your darning needle, sew the wrapped old end into itself, and the wrapped new end into itself. This may require loosening the spin of the yarn just a bit, to work the darning needle through the yarn.

In the particular project in this video, the yarn being used is Noro Silk Garden for the Sursa Shawl, which is being knit using two strands held together, one strand from each end of the same ball of Noro, so that when you get to the end of that ball of yarn, (really the middle), there is a loop, rather than a single strand.

I apologize for the several instances of out-of-focus filming -- the fault lies entirely with the filmmaker. Please be gentle with your critique of this amateur film-making and editing effort.

I hope you enjoy!

:-)

***NOTE: If you've come over from Yarnival, thanks for stopping by! You will find your way back to the latest issue of Yarnival by clicking here.***

Knitting Videos

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If you're like me, you're a visual learner.

Actually, I think I'm a combination audio/visual/tactile learner, in that I learn best when I'm seeing, hearing, and doing, all within the same lesson. That's why, during college, I was known for being the mad note-taker. During lectures, I wrote very fast and took verbatum notes, in order to try and capture every nuance of the professor's lesson. Who hasn't been burned by getting a question wrong on a test because they wrote something down wrong in class and then studied & learned that wrong information for the exam? In college, I was obsessed with avoiding that trap, which explains the crazy note-scribbling.

I can't even imagine what college lectures are like nowadays, what with all the kids carrying laptops to class. Do they still handwrite their lecture notes? Or do they type them into their laptops as the professor talks? Or, do they combine the two actions and handwrite their notes with a stylus on the screen of their tablet PC, if they have one? I think I'd miss the old-fashioned paper & ink method, myself, if I found myself back as an undergrad. I guess I've just dated myself as quite ancient.

And, as is my way, I have significantly digressed.

So, back to the topic at hand, which is online knitting videos. There is nothing like being able to watch someone else's hands as they demostrate a complicated technique, and then, be able to rewind and watch it again, as often as you need, until you master that technique. With the advent and maturation of the internet, there is now a plethora of online knitting videos one can watch, in order to learn intimidating techniques in the privacy of one's own home.

Most knitters are well aware of KnittingHelp.com, that priceless in-depth resource of amazingly helpful online knitting videos. It's the first place I tell all new knitters to go, after they've had their first lesson. And it's the first place I go when I need to learn a new technique or need a refresher on an old one.

But there are other online knitting video resources, including:

• Annie's Attic
• Hello Knitty
• Knitting at Knoon

Recently, I've found some great amateur knitting videos out on YouTube, and have started to compile them into a playlist for myself, so I can go back and watch them when the mood strikes.

Want to knit My So-Called Scarf, but you're unsure of that stitch technique? There's now a video demonstration of it.

Want to know how to knit backwards off of your right needle, to avoid purling and turning your work? There's a video for it.

Want to know how to weave in your ends while knitting, to avoid that loathsome task later on? Yep -- there's a video.

One of the best videos I've found thus far is an excellent 10-minute tutorial on Continental Knitting created by the CraftSanity podcasters, and I will embed it here for your edification:

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(Feedblitz subscribers click here to watch embedded video)
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Enjoy!

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Yule Log

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Ahhhh.... Sunday evening, knitting by the fire.... Christmas music playing....

Here's a little taste of it:

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(you may have to turn up your volume a bit)

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Lame, I know.

More Knitting on TV

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It's official. Knitting is ubiquitous. It was all over the place last night on NBC:




How 'bout a knitted Ferrari?

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My theory: NBC is so hard up for viewers that they'll do anything to attract knitters to watch. We're a very powerful demographic, dontcha know. ;-)

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Random images of my KR Retreat weekend

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I'm still processing the Knitter's Review Retreat weekend, and haven't quite been able to fully articulate the experience, either verbally, or in writing. It's times like this I wish I had certain people's gift of gab. (And anyway, Clara described it all much better than I ever could). So, for today, I will share a few more pictures from this past weekend.

(All pictures can be made larger by clicking them.)


On our way:

Lower Manhattan
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Globe.
Is this the one at Trump Tower?
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Driving along the Palisades
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Rural NY
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At our destination:

Cat's Paw (?) bush
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Swap room.
This is just half the loot people de-stashed.
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Hand-knits for donation to the Dulaan Project.
That pile was huge by the end of the weekend.
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This is where we knit in the evenings
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Roommate Meg modeling her Forest Paths shawl from IK Summer '03
(Anyone have this issue that I can borrow?)
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token Y-chromosomes in the building

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A little spinning demonstration given by Meg:

Yes, it really was that loud in that room - possibly louder.
(Feedblitz subscribers click here to see embedded video.)
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Bess' KnitPicks Fair Isle ("KipFee") sweater.
She's just zooming along on this thing!
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KipFee close-up
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Permanent resident at Jeronimo's
(Who is this guy?)
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At Orange County Choppers:

Permanent resident at OCC
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Lance Armstrong bike
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wooden chopper
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At the airport:

My 8pm flight is delayed
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My 8pm flight is further delayed. Sigh.
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We did finally take off around 11 pm, and I got home around 1 am. Nothing like being imprisoned at a gate for five hours to have some real knitting progress!

Sangeeta left me the funniest comment on my last post: "what other classes did you take? what other stuff did you get? show more yarn!"

Well, young lady, in answer to your first question, I just took the one -- Cat Bordhi's Moebius -- class. I really enjoyed it, and am still knitting on my moebius. Like I said before, once you get the cast-on, which, after you "get" it is really quite easy, and then knit the first round, (which is not easy), it's just mindless circular knitting like anything else.

In answer to your other two questions -- patience, my dear, patience. I will show more "stuff" and "yarn" and perhaps even some "knitting" pictures, tomorrow, God-willing.

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